What was Bruce Mitchell saying in his article at PWTorch.com:Read here and see for yourself and more details have come in this week

Your chance here to read the Bruce Mitchell article that ran previously at the PWTorch.com website…The post was pulled down/removed before many of you had a chance to read it…You get that chance now, and you also get a chance to see more details that have come out since Bruce’s article was first written…

Bruce’s work is based on his opinions after many years of studying and researching the wrestling industry….You can form your own opinions after you read the post/article and those may vary, but Bruce has his opinion and his findings, and we leave those here in front of you, so that you can see what he has done with this topic….

Again, more details came out earlier this week and we have those listed for you too….

Here is the post, as we give Bruce the chance to be heard/seen….

Why The Questions Surrounding Brodie Lee’s Death Are Important
from Bruce Mitchell

Brodie Lee’s death hurts.

It hurts his family, the wife and family he worked so hard to provide for. He loved them and they loved him.

It hurts his pro wrestling family. He worked with everybody in WWE, the industry leader. Every major name, from Stephanie McMahon and Triple H on down shared what he meant to them personally and professionally – how he bonded with them in simple, human ways and how important he was to their work.

It hurts his fans, who were happy to see him finally arrive at the cusp of the real stardom they had seen in him all along.

Even though he could provide very well for the family he loved best by staying with the industry leader, he decided to gamble on his talent. He partnered with AEW booker/owner Tony Khan to create the main-event money-drawing star he saw himself as. His wife, with two young children at home to raise, backed his decision to leave WWE to find his destiny, even though it would mean less money in the house to start.

Heart-breakingly, that gamble was paying off.

Brodie Lee was aptly named. Like Bruiser Brody, he had the physical presence, the strong style, and the iconic look to not only follow in the real Hardcore Legend’s path, but to do it better than anyone else had, including John Nord, since Brody’s murder.

No matter his size, look and presence though, there was no room for Luke Harper, his WWE persona, to dominate WWE’s 50/50 booked arena. Bruiser Brody’s character didn’t work in every context either. He had to be allowed to dominate to be able to sell tickets in great numbers.

There was no better example of the forces in WWE that stalemated Luke Harper than in what happened with his team with Erick Rowan, The Bludgeon Brothers. Here were these two outlaws, the modern day Brody & Stan Hansen, music and costuming meticulously detailed out to the Corporate T, clearly emphasizing the company over the fighters, strangling the act before they even started walking to the ring, . There’s no place for the bad-ass likes of Brody & Hansen in the mid-card. There never was.

But then there was the gamble to join AEW. There was the newly re-named Brodie Lee, dominating everywhere. He dominated the Dark Order, giving a gang of geeks his presence and credibility. Lee re-established the dominating finisher the Lariat as physical punishment like no one (no, not even WWE’s JBL) had done since the days of the Masked Superstar in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Brodie took out AEW TNT Main Event Champion Cody on national TV in front of a million fans with one killer Lariat and took his championship away from him, fair and square.

Lee forced Cody’s character to dig deep, to being back the darkness in his hair, I mean his soul, in order to even get in the ring with him for the rematch.

Brody Lee and Cody Rhodes then brutally re-established the worn-out old strap match gimmick and overcame the handicaps the Covid-19 Era placed on professional wrestling matches, literally knocking out one of the best matches of the year. Brody Lee was right there ready to grow with AEW into one of pro wrestling’s very top stars, taking his on-air stooges in The Dark Order with him.

Then, he just disappeared.

AEW and WWE had already been compromising pandemic health standards by gathering in Florida to even have events. It’s no secret that both companies, WWE in particular, have not been transparent as to the consequences to the people involved of even putting on these shows. They both continued to run even when bigger money, more popular cultural entities like the NFL, the NCAA, the NBA, and Major League Baseball stopped , then cut back on events. The decision to do this didn’t just put the independent contractors and their families at risk, but strengthened the pandemic itself by compromising social distancing, thereby strengthening the virus putting everybody, everywhere at more risk of getting sick and dying.

It’s also evident to anyone who knows professional wrestling history that companies have long covered up the health risks involved in the lifestyles and standards the business often requires. Look no further than how WWE reacted in the wake of the Chris Benoit murder/suicide for a strong, irresponsible example. Wrestlers and wrestler families who wanted to stay employed in the business also participated in these compromises in exchange for employment, or even the possibility of future employment.

The Head of the Table isn’t just a storyline,

Then, Brodie Lee disappeared.

Understandably in the Covid-19 Era the silence surrounding his absence led to many, myself included, wondering whether he had contracted the virus.

AEW and Lee’s family kept a very tight lid on what was going on with him and how serious Lee’s medical situation actually was. It turned out to so serious that he was being treated at the Mayo Clinic for it.

With his passing, Brodie Lee’s wife issued a statement noting the enormous support his family had received from AEW and the doctors at the Mayo Clinic during his illness. She stated that her husband had died “after a hard-fought battle with a non-Covid-related lung issue.”

That leaves the issue, though, of why Brodie Lee, his family, and AEW kept such a tight lid on information during his illness. People who have had COVID-19 have gotten lung damage that remained after the virus had left their system and they then tested negatively for it. Could this be what Lee’s wife meant, that he had already recovered from a bout with COVID-19 and was then suffering from this lung issue? Why would the family and AEW stay so quiet about what was going on if it was not COVID-19 related at all? .

Our country as a whole has not effectively worked together to lower the odds of the pandemic growing and now we’re in the midst of a surge that has made COVID-19 more dangerous than before. Do you know people who have suffered and died from COVID-19 now?

I do.

There’s even the possibility that the virus has mutated to become even more deadly. Vaccines may very well turn out to be effective in the fight to push back COVID-19, but at best that pushback is months away.

There’s no guarantee in the face of this, that pro wrestling or the NCAA or any other major league sports will see their way clear to continue in the face of how strong the pandemic surge is now.

The one thing that will put a stop to any of these sports faster than anything else is the death of a major player, like the University of Florida Gators college basketball star Kevontae Johnson, who was put on a ventilator after collapsing on the court during a game or a major national TV pro wrestling star dying because of something relating to this.

I’m not a doctor, but I’ve never heard of an athlete the size and in the shape Brodie Lee was in to be able to excel in his last two matches suddenly developing a lung condition that serious that quickly.

Whatever the circumstances, Brodie Lee’s family and AEW both would serve his memory best by being forthright about all the circumstances surrounding his death, whatever they are, thereby honoring him by allowing us all to make the best-informed decisions possible protecting everyone’s health.

Since Bruce’s article hit this is what we have learned…..

**********Coming in Monday from Pro Wrestling Inc. and from Dave Meltzer, with the Wrestling Observer…..**********

from www.wrestlinginc.com: and Dave Meltzer(Wrestling Observer):

Brodie Lee [real name Jon Huber] was hospitalized since the end of October until he eventually passed from a lung ailment on Saturday, according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer noted that Lee’s wife, Amanda, kept everyone in AEW informed of Lee’s worsening conditioning but didn’t want the news to leak out. AEW brass and the talents honored Amanda’s request.

After dropping the AEW TNT Championship to Cody Rhodes in a Dog Collar Match in early October, the idea was to write off Lee from TV for a few weeks to sell his injuries from the brutal match, added Meltzer.

It was during his time off when Lee began experiencing symptoms of his lung ailment. According to Meltzer, Lee couldn’t finish his workouts on his Peloton bicycle at home and he couldn’t figure out why he was unable to go through his routine workout regiments.

Shortly thereafter, towards the end of October, Lee’s lungs stopped working and he was rushed to a clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. The situation “got grave and AEW was aware” of the severity of Lee’s condition, added Meltzer.

As reported earlier, Kenny Omega dropping the AEW World Championship [in a dark segment] to Brodie Lee Jr. on AEW Dynamite was AEW’s way of paying tribute to Lee, who passed away less than a week later.

43 thoughts on “What was Bruce Mitchell saying in his article at PWTorch.com:Read here and see for yourself and more details have come in this week

  1. Why are you reposting something someone’s widow called a lie and offensive. I get that Bruce is a shameless hack, but you’re bringing your own, rather pathetic looking, site down with him

  2. Why exactly does Bruce Mitchell think a violation of this families privacy is acceptable? Is it because they were a public figure?

    Why would you re-publish this column when Mitchell already lost his job once over the backlash against his insensitive attack on this poor family?

    Why do you, the publishers of Greensboro sports, feel the need to give this ghoul a platform to continue to push this narrative that we “deserve” answers.

    The only people who deserve anything are the Hubers. They deserve to have their husband/father back.

    Mitchell lost his job at the Perfect as a result of public outcry by fans, performers and journalists alike.

    But you have seen fit to give his voice further outreach. Why, so that the Hubers can be further harried by this callous attempt to batter down their defenses while they attempt to grieve the sudden tragic loss of a loved one.

    Despicable.

    Absolutely despicable.

  3. No matter how many times you post this, Bruce, it doesn’t make it right.
    You can double down, triple down, quadruple down on this. This is not journalistic integrity. This is at the point now of essentially taunting a widow who has lost her husband.

    Take the L. You messed up on this one. Forgetting the absolutely misguided content of the article, your insistence that you’re in the right on this to the point that you’re now adding additional “evidence” (which again, does nothing to prove your inane “point”) shows just how deeply you’re digging your heels on this.

    Do better. This is incredibly disappointing and I hope one day you reflect and can see this.

  4. Thank you for reposting this. Even though a lot of people are rightly upset about what Mitchell wrote, it’s important to have at least some record of what was actually said than just hearsay now that PWTorch has taken down the original.

    To “Me”: grow some thicker skin. A repost isn’t hurting anyone. The record is important. Sometimes people write hurtful things; the degree we allow them to upset us is up to us. Some people just want to ban every thought that makes them uncomfortable and that’s just not how a free society ought to work.

  5. Why is this piece of speculation, which already cost you a job once, so important to you? How many direct statements from people with knowledge of the situation will it take before you realize how wrong you are?

  6. Hey, “Passing through,” it actually is hurtful to Amanda Huber, who posted a very well-written Instagram story about exactly why this story was hurtful to her. Bruce implied she was lying about her husband’s COVID status – after she had just watched her husband die a slow, painful death after being tested for COVID numerous times and being negative every time.

    This isn’t about the record, or banning thought. Bruce’s article shouldn’t even be called journalism. If he had investigated and found a cover-up regarding Brodie’s cause of death, THAT is journalism. He wrote a completely speculative article that was hurtful to Brodie’s widow. He had no proof, no evidence of anything he asserted. “I think his wife lied” isn’t the basis of an opinion article. And his assertion that we deserve to know more, that AEW should’ve disregarded the Huber’s privacy, is also just wrong.

    I’m not “hurt” by what Bruce wrote. I think it goes against the ethical standards of journalism and is just a plain awful piece of writing.

  7. @Journalism

    It’s important because, if people are going to be outraged at something, better to be outraged after reading it with one’s own eyes rather than just taking people’s word about it. The article reflects poorly on Mitchell, not the Hubers.

    Why do you feel the driving urge to see things censored? Let it be out in the open. Let the refutations be even more open. If you hide Mein Kampf, Hitler’s supporters are able to rehabilitate his image. When you leave his words there for everyone to see, you allow him to condemn himself.

    Stop trying to control what people can and can’t read. Let people think for themselves.

  8. Yesterday we had affirmed that this article belongs in the trash. Today we found it in a new garbage bin called Greensboro Sports.

    There’s a reason that the updated information at the bottom doesn’t include the *fact* that Huber was COVID tested at every taping and several times in the hospital and all of those tests came back negative – because that *fact* makes Bruce Mitchell and anyone who publishes this extremely stupid shit look as ridiculous as they truly are.

  9. @Meg

    The only one who comes out looking bad from this garbage article is Mitchell. I’m not defending him.

    He wrote this bad thing. It’s obvious to most people who read it that it’s garbage. I’d rather leave it at that than jump on board with some censorship campaign to expunge all evidence of its existence, thank you.

  10. So you’re doubling down on his narrative. That his wife was compelled to lie about something that has been a trending topic for months. Something that has taken lives indiscriminately to the tube of over 300 thousand people. Man when that other shoe drops…

  11. You seem to have conveniently neglected to mention that meltzer & a number of other prominent journalists in the wrestling world has also confirmed that Brodie Lee received a large number of regular covid tests throughout his time at aew AND during his treatment at the mayo clinic & never once returned a positive result.
    I’m sure Bruce may claim everyone is lying again about that but I’d be curious to know why he thinks the mayo clinic would also be happy to lie?

    Also if all those other journalists were able to independently verify this why was Bruce unable to before making his accusations?

  12. Hi,

    Just wanted to know that I’ll be contacting your advertisers all day today about your reposting of this disgusting excuse for a column. Can’t wait to see you in the unemployment line next to Brucie!

  13. The fact that this column doesn’t even go to the trouble of correcting the misspelled typo of Brodie Lee’s name from the original column says something.

    The fact that the “more details” this site shares after the column selectively omits Meltzer’s reporting that Lee took copious COVID tests and passed them all? The fact that it also omits Brodie’s widow releasing a statement yesterday saying it was not COVID and condemning this column? That speaks volumes. Guess Bruce isn’t a fan of that kind of transparency.

    Enjoy this Bruce. Your your legacy is ruined, your writing career is over. Well, unless you just want to stick to hideous green websites like this that misspell the name of their own advertiser in a sidebar ad (It’s Papa Johns, not Pappa Johns, you idiots). This is where you top out Bruce. It’s what you deserve. Have a drink.

  14. What a silly hill to choose to die on. I’ve read Bruce for 25 years and listened to him for 20, always with a ton of respect and endearment. This just makes me sad.

  15. You are disgusting for reposting this drek. Bruce is disgusting for writing it.

    You both make me sick. No one will mourn or miss you when you’re gone, whether it be from your sick misguided form of “journalism” or this miserable excuse of a life you’ve chosen to lead.

    Let this woman and her family grieve. I only hope when you lose people close to you that you have someone prod it over and over into your face.

    Disgusting, wretched pieces of filth.

  16. We have given everyone the chance to read the Bruce Mitchell article and then give their opinions on what Bruce has written….

  17. This is disgusting. It was disgusting when it was posted on the Torch, and you are disgusting for keeping it alive.

  18. Also, enjoy your one time spike in traffic, because people are only here to call you out and run. I hear a few podcast spots just opened up too? Geez, hard times, daddeh. Your peers dumping you as well on twitter. You just dropped an atomic bomb on your entire career.

  19. Andy, if you had any journalistic skill or integrity, which is now clearly in question based on how you have laid this out, you would have written an article about the situation giving context as opposed to just copying and pasting Bruce’s original piece with some BS intro. Maybe an actual balanced explanation that explains the WHOLE story would have worked. Instead you come across as a pal enabling someone who seems genuinely in need of some kind of help. All you have done here is brought attention to how bush league your site is.

  20. Who ever runs this site and gave this mark a platform to reprint this article like some how it wasn’t complete tasteless trash should be ashamed. Bruce just apologize and go away.

  21. That this “clearing the air” article includes a “what we’ve learned since…” section that either neglectfully or deliberately excludes the information on the COVID testing itself – SPECIFICALLY what the original article calls into question – and PRETENDS to be the “here are the facts, decide for yourself” paragon of journalism just shows that you’ve all (Andy D and Greensboro Sports) committed the same smarmy mistakes as the original, now unemployed author.

  22. Spending the day going through and contacting all of the sponsors listed on this site letting them know what’s happening. Already have 2 who say they are removing all advertising from this site. Weird hill to die on.

  23. Don should be ashamed to allow this sham of a journalist to have his work on his website. Before even a day had gone by after Mr Huber’s passing, this “journalist” produces an unauthorized article speculating about the circumstances of Mr Huber’s passing. I ask Don and the rest of Greensboro Sports to remove this immediately as to not appear compliant with this poor excuse for journalism

  24. after reading Andy Durham’s introduction to this piece i’ve decided that people use the word “journalist” too loosely. Andy Durham is simply a blogger until he does the research to learn that Huber was tested easily a dozen times for COVID and was negative each time, and edits that information into the header.

  25. How does this dim old fossil think he gets to tell a dead man’s widow how she has to “best honor his memory?”

    What a bunch of crap. Who authorized this tripe to be posted here? Contacting your advertisers. This is beyond tasteless. Just some washed up hack trying to get some attention with controversy.

  26. well now we know 2 things for certain, 1 Andy Durham needs to actually learn the difference between freedom of speech and someone being an asshole for the sake of it. Second Bruce may have been on the wrestling scene for years but unless i am truly mistaken, its not medicine he is making so many weak suppositions at a point where he not only is sounding like a conspiracy theorist but he has pushed at people grieving.

  27. ??????????????????????????????????????????????
    ??????????????????????????????????????????????
    ??????????????????????????????????????????????
    ??????????????????????????????????????????????

  28. Bruce always tried and failed to be some type of hybrid of Christopher Hitchens and Mike Wallace. I see what he was trying to do here and I’m not surprised he wasn’t talented or tactful enough to do it well.

  29. Absolute trash. Are people suddenly not allowed to die of anything but COVID? The logic behind this srticle is so faulty it defies belief.

  30. The only accurate information anywhere in this post is the discovery of vultures residing in NC outside of their natural habitat.

    What an incredible screw up, Andy.

  31. from http://www.wrestlinginc.com:

    Amanda Huber, the wife of late pro wrestler Brodie Lee, has responded to wrestling bloggers and fans who asked for more transparency regarding the death of her husband last Saturday.

    In a lengthy Instagram post on her Instagram story, later tweeted out by AEW star Cash Wheeler, Amanda revealed that Brodie was tested multiple times for COVID-19 when he was hospitalized since the end of October until the day after Christmas.

    “There’s no cover-up,” wrote Amanda. “There’s no conspiracy. There was just a series of unfortunate events that ended in your world being crushed.”

    She continued, “What kind of position does that put you in? When you’re trying to grieve and people practically expect you to post medical records because since they were a public figure, they are entitled to all the knowledge of what happened.”

    Amanda went on to add that although Lee didn’t contract the COVID-19 virus, “there’s no shame in dying from COVID but it’s not what it was.”

    “It wasn’t COVID. There’s no shame in dying from COVID but it’s not what it was. You have no answers and you’re just left there. Can you just fu–in imagine that?”

  32. As a person that is from and lives in NC I find this very saddening that you would repost this trash attempt at journalism. Never heard of or been to your site until now, and seeing that you gave this guy some form of a platform makes me glad this is the only time. Amanda, Nolan, and Brodie Jr. are hurting right now and y’all litterally are making it worse posting this trash. I wonder how Bruce would feel if the shoe was on the other foot and this was happening to him and his family? Probably pretty bad and feeling like he was being attacked. I get wondering what happened…but this is not the time for this reach of a article. I hope bruce finds a way to see his wrongs but after he went and got this posted again after losing his job over it once I don’t see it happening. #RIPBrodieLee “It’s Wednesday you know what that means”

  33. None of this matters because Mitchell is canned and continued to nuke his career for an article based on no facts, evidence, or research. Anyone continuing to defend is as useless as he is now.

  34. Diseases have names. Unlike most people here I actually am a doctor. An easy way to dissuade doubters would have been to just say the actual diagnosis (be it lung cancer or cystic fibrosis or whatever else it may be).

    Saying it was a “non-Covid related lung disease” makes it sound inherently dubious. What was it exactly?

  35. @What Doctor, what part of they dont know did you not get from his wife’s letter on IG about this very article. You being a “doctor” can probably grasp that they don’t know. I know its hard for “doctors” to say that, but give it a try champ. If you want what the widow said this jamoke who reprinted the article has posted it in the comments. Also being a “doctor” you understand she has zero obligation to humor your curiosity.

  36. Oh I mean @What Disease? You may also get being a “doctor” it didn’t have to be a disease, right? Maybe you don’t as I assume you have the same medical degree as Bruce.

  37. How has this article not been taken down yet? Why is it still here? Does this website condone harassing grieving widows and making claims of them covering up the cause of their husbands death just 24 hours after it happening? How is this an appropriate message to amplify?

    Why is this website supporting this and allowing it to be an outlet after everyone including his own employer has decided it’s crossed the line?

  38. @What Disease

    >Unlike most people here I actually am a doctor.

    We can tell because you told us in the comments.

    >An easy way to dissuade doubters would have been to just say the actual diagnosis

    Who is concerned with what the doubters think other than to publicly and relentlessly mock them until they apologize for calling the widow a liar?

    >What was it exactly?

    It was exactly, precisely, 154% none of your business.

  39. People wanted a chance to respond to what Bruce has written.

    How could they respond to what Bruce has written, if we did not post what Bruce has written???

    Bruce is not a wrestler, he is a writer….

    We gave all of you the opportunity to respond to what Bruce Mitchell has written….

  40. Andy its screen capped on various social media accounts. You did this for hits on your site, don’t be a Mitchell.

    You saw a widow was hurt by a ridiculously speculative op-ed and you reposted to get hits today still. I hope your one day boost to this site was worth being a Mitchell.

Comments are closed.